Update: I was unfortunately not aware of Shamus Young's severe criticism of Fallout 3 available here to link in the original piece and I regret that. It dovetails rather nicely with what I've written and it's much better executed than my piece. I strongly recommend anyone...

This is quite possible the best Turok game since the first one. Not only did this game live up to my expectations, it actually exceeded them so to speak.

I saw videos for this game a long time ago on GameTrailers.com and I'll admit I did get excited seeing this franchises possible return to form. We all know what a disaster Evolution turned out to be and thank god Acclaim lost the right to this once proud series. On to the review:

GRAPHICS: There's a mixed reaction to the graphics from the moment the game boots up. The vistas are gorgeous, with plenty to see. This is even more apparent if you can get some height to see beyond the thick jungle. I was also very impressed with the lack of pop-up or texture draw in that most current games suffer from. It does rear its ugly head a few times throughout the game, especially in some of the cut scenes. The character models are on par with Gears and Halo 3 (just for comparison) in the amount of detail the exhibit. Likewise the lip sync animations are spot on. The frame rate really never suffers and usually stays a 30 fps the entire game.

SOUND: Turok has always been about sound. Raptors creeping through the jungle, T-Rexs thundering in the distance and other strange creators moving through out the world around you. It's all there to immerse you into Turok's world. The guns sound like they should and explosions rock your ears. The music, with thundering tribal drums, kicks in at the right moments and is noticeably silent when nothing is going on. The voice acting is also well done.

GAMEPLAY: The classic Turok feel is present in this game. Stealth knife kills are wonderfully brutal. The aiming is a little quick at first, but adjustment of the sensitivity helps. One thing that Turok could have benefited from is a sprint button. There are certain occasions where getting away fast is the best option. In these cases, since you can't sprint, you better trust your aim rather than your feet. The MP is pretty basic and consists of the same modes most other games have (i.e., CTF, TDM, DM).

OVERALL: This game flat out rocks. Fans of the series will should be able to overlook the small flaws this game has.

Sorry this review isn't consistent, I'm trying to finish it while I'm at work. lol